By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
     The Scarborough Town Council unanimously approved the $73.6 million 2008 gross municipal and school budget last Thursday, but not before nearly every councilor, with the exception of Patrick O’Reilly, proposed an amendment. At the core of the amendments was a debate over whether the library’s capital improvement project (CIP) request of $466,090 ought to be funded in full.
    The debate arose after Sylvia Most proposed an amendment to remove $375,000 for bleachers at the high school from the community services CIP. Most said the project did not previously appear on the CIP.
 “In a tight budget cycle, I would like to see it pushed up a few years...maybe 2011 or 2012,” she said. Most said the current bleachers are not often filled. She said if the item had appeared on the CIP earlier, it would be a different matter, but approving it would send the wrong message. The motion failed with a vote of five to two with Jeff Messer, Ron Ahlquist, Shawn Babine, Richard Sullivan and O’Reilly opposed.
      Turning to the library, Ahlquist proposed removing the $260,000 for systems efficiency and safety, because the money is not needed he said. Ahlquist said he toured the library and could not find any major safety hazards. He added that $110,00 for carpet replacement was also not needed as he did not notice any flaws in the carpet during a recent walk through.
      Babine said he took a tour of the library and discovered poor wiring and torn carpeting. He also said the $3,000 for a new water fountain is needed because the current fixture is not ADA compliant.
      Library Director Nancy Crowell said the library’s carpet is very thin and as it wears away, it becomes a major safety hazard. She said the job would take a full week or more and would require professional services and carpet installers. Crowell also said the lighting in the stack area was never properly installed and was not conducive to reading. She said a recent audit also revealed recommendations for improving energy efficiency.
      Crowell said the library would present a referendum question to residents in the future on revised renovation and expansion plans. She said any work done now would not be impacted by future construction.
       O’Reilly pointed out that these items -as well as $38,500 for information systems and $44,00 for shelving and fixtures - in the library CIP have been deferred for three or four years. Most said she was not surprised by the amount as it is the cost of deferring requests from year to year.
      Ahlquist’s amendment failed by a vote of five to two with Messer, Babine, Most, O’Reilly, Rancourt opposed. The council failed to second his amendment to remove $110,000 for the carpet, but Babine immediately proposed an amendment to remove $40,000 for overflow parking from the library’s CIP, stating he “hadn’t seen the need yet.”
      “It’s to the library’s credit that we’re in this position,” said Most of the library’s parking problems. She said when attending events at the library, she frequently has to park at the Wentworth School.
      O’Reilly also said he has seen the parking problem first hand and questioned the logic of dismissing a visible need.
      “We’re not willing to spend $40,000 on something that occurs monthly, but we’re willing to spend $375,000 on bleachers?”
      The amendment failed by another vote of five to two with Jeff Messer, Most, O’Reilly, Rancourt opposed and Babine voting against his own amendment.